Phonograph-resonator



W. C.. BECKWHH. PHONOGRAPH RESONATOR. APPLIcAloN man 1AN.15, 1911.

avda?? W. C. BECKWITH.

PHONOGHAPH RESONATOR. APPLxcATloN F|LED'1AN.15. 1911.

,Tjatend Jan. 20, .1920.

SHEET 2.

2 SHEETS- .WILLIAM C. BECKWITI-I, 0F URBANA, ILLINOIS.

PHONGGRAPH-RESONATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2o?, 1920.

Application led January 15, 1917. Serial No. 142,353.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, VILLIAM C. BECK- wrri-I, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Urbana, in the county of Champaign and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Phonograpli-Resonators, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.. 4

This invention relates to improvements in phonograph resonators through ywhich reproduced recorded musical and other sound waves are transmitted to an audience, the form, material and construction of one or more of these things has heretofore been productive of unrecorded roaring tones, echoes, scratching and other seriously discordant sounds destructive of the purity and harmony of the recorded sounds and accord` ingly irritating to the listener..

The prime object of'this invention broadly stated is to provide a phonograph with a resonator, the form, material and construction of which is such that in operationv it produces the best effects obtainable from a combination of the human throat, a violin and the tube of a horn for unrestrictedly delivering to an audience every sound wave reproduced from a record to the entire eX- clusion of unrecorded sounds of every kind and character.

A further object of my invention is. to provide a phonograph with a resonator the character and range of the vibrations of which are such that all recorded overtones, however delicate and soft any of them may be, are so perfectly transmitted in their entirety to an audience that it is possible and practical for the ear of the listener to sepf arate at will the reproduced recorded sounds of any individual voice or instrument from a chorus or other ensemble, and lfollow it as a solo part however loud and heavy may be the sound waves produced by other individual voices and instruments, or both.

Another object of my invention is to provide a resonator for phonographs with means adapted to successfully 'break 4and destroy echoes otherwise projected with the Isounds emanating from the resonator. further object of my invention 1s tol *provide a resonator with means for adjustably diminishing the throat opening therefor, and whereby without any change of needles, points or equipment, the volume of tone may be absolutely controlled and reduced from eXtreme forte to the softness of a whisper without stifling the melody, and thereby give to the player full sco-pe and control for expressionfat-will, and as a final result of which a given size of resvolume desired or required for producing the |best effects.

A further object of my invention is to provide a resonator with a throat passage opening therein, theconstruction, form and materials for which said passage and the relative arrangement of which to the resonator are such that sound waves conducted therethrough from their record are clarified, purified, reproduced in facsimile, and so transmitted to an audience, in the absence of all sounds foreign thereto.

With these ends in view, my invention finds embodiment in certain features of novelty in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts by ,which the said ob jects and certain other objects are attained, all as hereinafter fully described with reference to the accom anying drawings and more particularly polnted out in the claims.

In said drawings:

Figure l isha vertical longitudinalsection through a resonator in which my in-V vention finds embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a top plan View thereof.

Fig'. .3 is a detail section of the laminated materials of which my resonator is partly constructed.

Fig. 4 is a front end elevation of the resonator. i

Fig. 45 is a. transverse section taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2, and- Fig. 6 is a section through the tone separator or throat of the resonator, with a portion of the upper part of the throat broken away.

Similar characters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the drawings.

In said invention finds its drawing a resonator in which my embodiment is provided with a head block 7, which may be in one piece, but which, see Fig. 5, is preferably constructed of a number of layers or slabs 8 and 9 of wood, secured together with their grain alternately extending in opposite directions, that is to say at a right angle to each other, and for obtaining the best results preferably constructed of either fine spruce or soft poplar. j f

This head block is provided transversely with a circular opening 10, into which is projected the end of a tone arm 11 mounted upon and secured to the top board 12 of a cabinet by means of screws v13 inserted through a laterally projecting flange 14, below which the head block is provided with a slot 15 for a slidable damper 16 consisting of a flat wooden bar 17 provided transversely with a circular perforation 18 adapted to be moved to and out of register with the 'opening 10 in the head block by means of a handle 19, pivoted as indicated at 20 to the bar 17, the stroke of which may be so limited by any suitable means as to prevent the damper from entirely closing the opening 10.

The head block 7 is provided at its corners (see Fig. 2) with holes 21, for the reception (see Fig. 5) of screws 22 passing through the head block into the cover 12 of the cabinet, and from which the resonator is thereby suspended in its entirety.

Secured to and depending from the head block 7 is a throat block 23 composed of either fine spruce or soft poplar, provided centrally with a longitudinal passage 24 circular in cross-section registering with the passage 10 in the head block, and merging at its opposite or lower end in a passage 25 circular in cross section to form the tone separator or throat of the resonator.

, Referring to Figs. 5 and 6, it is now to be observed that'the walls of the passage 10 in the head block extend in parallel lines; that the circular walls of the passage 24 are convex throughout their length; that the diameter of the passage 25 is substantially greater' than the greatest diameter of the passages 10 and 24, and quite rapidly diverge toward its outer end and whence the sound waves discharge into the resonator, presently to be described, and furtherv that the diameterof the resonator' adjacent the inner end of the throat block is alsov greater than the openin of the passage 25 therein.

' n operation the sound waves from the tone arm following their discharge through the passage 10 into the head block, are thereafter first gradually contracted, that is to say compressed followed by a correspondadj acent iaaaia ingly gradual expansion in the passage 24 before entering the passage 25 wherein they are also gradually and very rapidly eX- panded.

In providing the passage 24 with means gradually contracting the sound waves, and as gradually thereafter permitting their eX- pansion followed by their quicker and greater' expansion in the `passage 25, the sound waves are expelled from the passage 24 through the passage 25 to contact with the resonator with a greater force than would otherwise occur, and in consequence of which the vibrations of the resonator are correspondingly increased and roaring sounds are prevented, that is to say the vibrations imparted by a phonograph record to the, reproducer therefor and expelled from the throat blockwith absolute accuracy in the entire absence of any sounds foreign thereto.

`With the recorded sound waves issuing' from the throat block as above described, it

`will at once be apparent that any form of resonator capable of so transmitting them together with all over tones clearly and distinctly to an audience, will be a substantial and material improvement in the art.

For securing` these valuable and desirable results, l have illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4a resonator in which my invention finds its embodiment, and which as shown in the drawings consists of a horn in the form of a box 26,.the opposing side walls 27 and 28 of which and the top and bottoni sounding boards 29 are secured to the throat block 23, and preferably by projecting their ends thereto in grooves formed therein. and against accidental detachment by means of glue or other material or devices suitable for the purpose, that is to say, which will not substantially restrict the vibrations of the resonator. l

The side walls 27 and 28 substantially diverge outwardly froin the throat block 23, as indicated in Fig. 2, and their edges extend in parallel lines -(see Fig. l), for about or a little more than halftheir length. as indicated at a, and thence merge into curved walls which constantly decrease in radius to their outer ends b-, where they are connected by the top and bottom sounding boards 29 and 30. supported by said edges and preferably secured thereto by means of glue, cement or other suitable means best adapted therefor.

rfhese side Walls act in accord with and affect the sound boards on the same principle that do thesustaining ribs used in the construction of and the sound boards of a piano, being the tone-stabilizerof the engaging sound boards of the resonator, and as for example does the supporting wall of the violin, carrying its belly or sound board; and in this connectlon it is proper to observe that, while not necessary in some instances, my invention includes the bellying of the sound boards throughout or wherever it may be desirable between the ends of the sound boards and as may be before securing the sound boards thereto, except at the extreme outer ends of the sound boards when, as will be seen at 0*@ in Fig. 4. said edges are convex, that is to say, curved inwardly toward each other. Connecting the side boards about midway their width and the point where their parallel surfaces merge into their curved surfaces is a sound post 32 adapted to restrict the vibrations of the sounding boards, that is to say within limits preventing the distortion of any of the reproduced sound waves, and yet permitting vibrations adapted for projecting all of the recorded over-tones from the record being produced and as must be and is in a violin for similar purposes.

To prevent roaring sounds and for breaking up and thereby preventing echoes, it will now be observed by reference to Figs. 5 and 6, that the throat block 23 is internally provided with a chord 33, preferably of catgut, but may be of other suitable material, which eXtends from the front portion' of the passage 2l at a point in a plane above the sounding boards toward the opposite slde of the passage 24, and which for operative purposes terminates toward the rear slde of the bottom of the passage. p

The chord 33, at its outer end, is provided with a knot .34, whence it passes through the wall of the passage 2 4, and thence through the bottom of the throat block 23 to the outer surface of the bottom, to which it is secured by a fastening device 35 which may consist of either a tack or a screw adapted for securing the chord in its outstretched position in a depression 36, enabling the adjustment of the chord from time to time as may be necessary for best destroying echoes.

Referring to Fig. l it is now t o be noted that the resonator of my invention 1s suspended substantially in its entirety from. the top board l2 of the cabinet, 1n whlch 1t 1s inclosed, but that in practice for relieving the vibrating portion of the resonator from vertical strains tending to twist, bender warp any portion of it, the cablnet is preferably provided with a bottom board or shelf 37 on which is located a leg 38 of cork, or any other material adapted for use as a support for the outer corners of the underside of the resonator, but which should be of a material which in no wise is capable of increasing, diminishing, or otherwise modifying the vibrations the resonator would otherwise have when not so supported.

'The sounding boards of the resonator preferably consist of a thin layer offine spruce or soft poplar 39, veneered on lts opposite sides with layers of mahogany 40 and 11 of about the same thickness, with the gram of the layer 39 extending at a ri ht angle to the grain of the mahogany and which extends on a line transversely through the resonator.

Having describedmy invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A device fortransmitting reproduced sounds comprising in combination a horn generally rectangular in cross-section, having straight line sides, and provided with top and tbottom sound boards substantially parallel`.for a portion of their length, merging into oppositely curved surfaces terminating at the end of the horn, and means for connecting said horn with the tone arm of a phonograph.

A device for transmitting reproduced sounds comprising in combination a horn generally rectangular in cross-section, having diverging sides, and provided with top and bottom sound boards substantially parallel for a portion of their length, merging into curved surfaces of constantly decreasing radius to the end of the horn, and means for connecting said horn with the tone arm of a phonograph.

3. A device for transmitting reproduced sounds comprising in combination a horn generally ,rectangular in cross-section, having diverging side walls and top and bottom sounding boards substantially parallel for a portion of their length, merging into oppositely curved surfaces terminating at the end of the horn, and a sound post connecting said boards at the intersection of their parallel and curved surfaces.

Lt. A device for transmitting reproduced sounds comprisinga block provided with a throat opening therein, for the passage of sound waves contracted about the middle of its length, and in open communication with a rapidly diverging passage adapted to open directly into a horn, and means for suspending said throatA block from one end.

5. A device for transmitting reproduced sounds comprising in combination a throat j 7. A device for transmitting reproduced y sounds comprising in combination a throat block, provided with a contraction in the passage thereof through which sound waves are conducted to a horn, and ahorn having diverging sides, the surfaces of the sound board of which are in parallel planes for a portion of its length, merging into outward curves at'the end of the horn.

8. A device for transn'litting reproduced sounds comprising in combination a horn having diverging sides, and parallel surfaces merging into curves of constantly decreasing radius terminating at the end o'l' the horn.

9. A device for transmitting reproduced sounds comprising in combination, a horn. a sound passage 'located between said horn and a sound reproducer, and means in said passage compressing s'ound Waves 'forretaining therein overtones, rapidly expanding and directing said' compressed sonno Waves and overtones against and with an impact vibrating walls of the horn adjacentthe passage, collectivelyv retaining and increasingly amplifying in the horn all of the component sounds in the. sound waves, including overtones and undertones. and for thereby delivering the reproduced sound vaves to an audience in suhtantially their original volume intensity, accuracy, distinctiveness, musical quality and tonal value.

10. A device for transmitting reproduced sounds comprising a horn provided with resonate diverging straight side walls, par- `pressing sound Waves, for

mesma allel top Walls terminating at their free ends in outwardly curved surfaces constantly decreasing in radiation, a sound passage located between said horn and a sound reproduoer, and means in said passage comretaining therein overtones and also for rapidly expanding and directing said compressed sound Waves and overtones against and with an impact Vibrating Walls of the horn adjacent the passage, for collectively retaining and increasingly amplifying in the horn all of the component sounds in the sound Waves, including .overtones and undertones. and for thereby delivering the reproduced sound Waves to an audience in substantially their original volume.'intensity` accuracy, distinctiveness, musical quality and tonal value.

ln Witness whereof, l have hereunto set my hand and afiixed my seal, this 13th day of January A. D. 1917.

YVILLM C. BECKVITH.

Witnesses:

MILDRED ELSNER, JNO. G. ELLIOTT. 

